Carlson had built a modest unbeaten record after 12 fights, but had done it against mediocre opposition. Prior to his bout against Gallo, three of his 12 victories were against fighters with winning records.

Despite losing four of his last seven fights, Gallo was a significant step up in competition for Carlson. In his last bout on Oct. 5 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, Gallo lost a fifth-round technical decision to Felipe Orocuta.

The shorter Gallo started out well, landing through the guard of Carlson with straight right hands and counter left hooks to the head. By the end of the second round, Carlson’s left eye had already sustained a noticeable cut and bruise.

Carlson momentarily stunned Gallo in the second round with a counter right hand to the head. Moments later, Gallo backed up Carlson with a two-punch combination.

Both fighters had their moment in the next two rounds, but it was Carlson who seemed to land the more telling blows. He was able to rain down a number of punches to Gallo’s head.

Undaunted, Gallo began to throw and land to Carlson’s body during the middle rounds. It was a tactic that he probably should have down earlier in the fight, as those punches could have had an impact on Carlson.

Instead, Carlson went on the offensive during the sixth and seventh rounds, landing a number of punches flush to Gallo’s head. Gallo was in retreat mode, but was able to land a punch to keep Carlson honest or he would tie up.

Gallo went for broke in the final round, but Carlson seemed to be one step ahead of Gallo, who looked broken down as the final bell sounded.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Carlson, 78-74, 78-74, and 77-75. RingTV scored the bout 78-74.

Bantamweight Isaac Zarate (7-1) won a hard-fought six round unanimous decision over Christian Torres (3-5). All three judges scored the bout in favor of Zarate, 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56.

Featherweight Joet Gonzalez (6-0, 1 KO) won a hard-fought six round unanimous decision over Cesar Martinez (4-2-1, 1 KO). All three judges scored the bout in favor of Gonzalez, 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56.

Lightweight Cesar Villarraga (2-0, 1KO) won a four round unanimous decision over Osman Rivera (2-6). All three judges scored the bout in favor of Villarraga, 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.

Junior middleweight Neeco Morales (3-0, 1 KO) won a one-sided four round unanimous decision over Victor Altamirano. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 for Morales.

Heavyweights Justin Davenport (1-0-2, 1KO) and Jonnie Rice (0-0-1) fought to a sloppy four round majority decision draw. One judge scored the bout 39-37 for Davenport, while the other two judges scored the bout 38-38.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing